Court of Arbitration for Sport to Announce Blatter Appeal Decision on Monday

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will announce its decision on Sepp Blatter’s appeal against his six-year ban from all footballing activity on Monday.

The former FIFA President attended a hearing at the Lausanne-based CAS in August and the ruling of sport’s supreme court will be revealed at 3 p.m. Swiss time.

The CAS could either dismiss, overturn or reduce his suspension from world football.

Blatter, who was the head of the governing body for 17 years until he stepped down in 2015 in the wake of the worst corruption scandal in the organisation’s history, was originally suspended for eight years along with ex-UEFA President Michel Platini in December of last year.

The duo both had their respective bans reduced from eight to six years by FIFA’s Appeals Committee in February, leaving the CAS as the only remaining legal option.

The 80-year-old Swiss had claimed following his hearing in August that he would “accept” the decision of the CAS.

In May, the CAS dismissed Platini’s appeal, which was fast-tracked as he still harbored slim hopes of being able to see out the rest of his term as President of European football’s governing body.

However, the former France international’s ban was cut by a further two years.

Blatter and Platini were both sanctioned for an alleged “disloyal” payment of $2 million made to the Frenchman by the Swiss in 2011.

Both men denied any wrongdoing and said the money was for work Platini carried out for FIFA between 1998 and 2002, when he served as a technical adviser to Blatter.

However, the 60-year-old Frenchman didn’t receive his money until 2011 and question marks were raised over the time delay.

Blatter also remains the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation into corruption within world football’s governing body in his native Switzerland, which was opened in September 2015 when details of the payment to Platini emerged.

It ended Platini’s attempt to succeed Blatter as FIFA President and also forced him out as the head of UEFA, with Slovenian Aleksander Čeferin elected as his replacement in September.

The Investigatory Chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee also opened formal proceedings against Blatter, former secretary general Jérôme Valcke and Markus Kattner, who was previously chief finance officer and acting secretary general.

They are being investigated for several ethics breaches, including bribery and corruption and offering and accepting gifts or other benefits.

FIFA’s lawyers Quinn Emanuel announced in June that Blatter, Valcke and Kattner awarded themselves bonuses and pay rises totalling $80 million over a five-year period.

This included Blatter, Valcke and Kattner being given a combined $23 million in December 2010 following the World Cup in South Africa that year, which was approved “apparently without an underlying contract provision stipulating such bonuses.”

Want To Contribute?

So you want to contribute to the Sport Digest? We welcome submissions from the public and alumni alike. Below are links to the information you need to know. Feel free to submit a request for any additional information you may need.